The Birth of the Church | Acts 2:1-13 The Arrival of the Spirit

Acts 2:1-13

Matthew 25:14-30

The Holy Spirit was given to Jesus’ church for one primary reason: That they might powerfully declare and display His mighty gospel-works to everyone in the world!

“The ‘gift’ or ‘baptism’ of the Spirit, one of the distinctive blessings of the new covenant, is a universal blessing for members of the new covenant, because it is an initial blessing.  It is part and parcel to belonging to the new age. The Lord Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant and the bestower of its blessings, gives both the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Spirit to all who enter his covenant. Further, baptism with water is the sign and seal of baptism with the Spirit, as much as it is of the forgiveness of sins. Water-baptism is the initiatory Christian rite, because Spirit-baptism is the initiatory Christian experience.” — John Stott

From the Spirit’s Arrival at Pentecost, we see:

1) The gift of the Holy Spirit is for ALL believers, to empower them for mission.

Joel 2:28-29 // 1 Corinthians 12:4-7,11 // 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5

2) While we can’t calculate the movements of the Spirit, they are calculated.

John 3:8 // Acts 8:26-29, 10:19-20, 11:11-15, 13:2-4, 16:6-7, 14

3) The Holy Spirit can overcome any barrier and use anybody to reach anybody.

Ref. Acts 10